Pubdate: Wed, 06 Dec 2000
Source: CNN.com (US Web)
Copyright: 2000 Cable News Network, Inc.
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Author: Reuter

U.S. seizes cocaine bales off Mexico, Colombia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. officials have seized about seven tons of
cocaine and arrested 11 people in two separate incidents involving
speedboat smugglers off the coast of Mexico and Colombia, the U.S.
Coast Guard said Tuesday.

The seizures represent about 10 percent of all the cocaine -- 125,000
pounds -- confiscated by the Coast Guard in 1999, said Lt. Commander
Jeff Robertson of the Coast Guard.

"In just one week we had about 10 percent of what we seized all of
last year. Last year was the largest year ever, and it looks like this
year is going to be busy again," Robertson said.

In the first incident, which occurred on November 27 about 300 miles
west of the Colombian coast, U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy officials
arrested 11 Colombian men aboard two 30- to 35-foot high-performance
speedboats, which were carrying about four tons of the illegal drug,
Robertson said.

The Coast Guard officials were aboard the USS Boone, a 453-foot guided
missile Navy frigate that carries two helicopters and conducts regular
patrols for illegal drug trafficking off the South American coast.

The men were taken to Ft. Myers, Florida, where they were arraigned in
federal court on charges of international cocaine trafficking Monday,
Robertson said. The U.S. attorney in Tampa would be handling the case,
he said.

He could not confirm reports that the 11 men were members of
Colombia's largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC).

As part of routine operations, the Navy vessel detected one of the
speedboats and set off in pursuit. When they realized they were being
pursued, the men began throwing bales of cocaine overboard, and one
man plunged into the water, Robertson said.

Shortly thereafter, a second boat was detected near that site, and
officials picked up the men and some 146 bales of cocaine, Robertson
said.

The second incident occurred off the coast of Mexico the following
day, but no arrests were made in that case. The Coast Guard cutter
Long Island pursued another high-performance speedboat, known as a
"go-fast."

With the help of Mexican authorities, U.S. officials were able to
seize 6,000 pounds of cocaine from the ship, which was later found
abandoned, Robertson said.

Robertson noted that more than 80 percent of all cocaine seized by the
Coast Guard came from the Pacific Ocean, and an increasing amount was
being transported via these "go-fasts," which are typically equipped
with three 200-horsepower outboard engines. The boats guzzle fuel,
prompting the drug smugglers to operate refueling ships offshore.

"This is a continuing trend in the Pacific," he said. "It's like a
regular milk run."
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